Sporting Lisbon president Frederico Varandas has said his club won’t be blackmailed into selling Manchester United target Viktor Gyokeres for below his market value.
Reports in the Portuguese press earlier this week claimed that the striker is “furious” with Sporting for going back on their promise to sell him for €70m (£59m).
However, Varandas has disputed the accusations (which have been attributed to Gyokeres’s agent). He says that Sporting will still sell the forward for below his €100m (£84m) buyout fee but there is no set price:
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“Sporting will not demand the clause. Now, blackmail and insults, Sporting will not accept. One thing is certain: Sporting will not accept €60 million plus €10m [in add-ons]. As of today, Sporting has not received any proposal for Gyokeres.”
What is the latest on Man United’s pursuit of the forward?
It is believed that the Red Devils have had fresh contact with Sporting and Gyokeres’s representatives over the past week as they try to ascertain whether the player would be open to moving to Old Trafford.
Arsenal have been favourites for the Swede’s signature up until now but the Gunners have seemingly decided to pursue RB Leipzig’s Benjamin Sesko instead.
Can the club afford to sign Gyokeres?
With Brentford’s Bryan Mbeumo expected to cost in excess of £60m if he does make the switch to Manchester, there are doubts over whether Ruben Amorim’s side can afford another sizeable outlay.
United will be keen to offload Marcus Rashford, Alejandro Garnacho and others to free up the necessary funds. The fact that Sporting are now unlikely to let Gyokeres go for €70m does complicate matters.
However, Varandas’s remarks do confirm that the 27-year-old won’t cost as much as €100m, which is a figure that would have almost certainly led to Red Devils cooling their interest.
In other news, Paul Scholes has encouraged his former club to sign an England international midfielder